DeLillo writes books that are smart, funny, perceptive, moving, relevant and true because he can think big and write small. At his best, I think he’s one of few writers who can do them simultaneously. Some writers choose to think in macro terms and some at the micro-level of the sentence DeLillo can do both. The feeling I love most when reading is perhaps best called extrusion, that delightful rush that comes when the pull of a writer’s words on the page draw you towards a new experience: the quick expansion of consciousness, the shock of recognition, the delicious and surprising hit of emotion. The importance of America, especially in the global events of the twentieth century, would ensure his relevance to readers everywhere, even if it weren’t for the fact that we in the West live in an increasingly homogenised culture, an increasingly American culture.īut for me, what makes him special isn’t all of this grand-sounding stuff. Why? He engages with the history of his country and predicts its future with a freakish accuracy he catches the voices, fears and hopes of the full range of Americans the capaciousness of his work only serves to highlight his omnicompetence.ĭeLillo has interrogated consumerism, intellectualism, terrorism, digital technology, the family, death, the power of violence, the impact of the Atomic Bomb the list goes on. He is perhaps the quintessential American novelist. Don DeLillo is one of America’s most important and influential writers.
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